


cacophony

by MythologyPastry



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Multi, One-Sided Attraction, POV Male Character, Pining, Trills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27857657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythologyPastry/pseuds/MythologyPastry
Summary: Jadzia comes to sickbay for the flowers in her chest; Julian, as normal, takes note of everything.
Relationships: Julian Bashir & Elim Garak, Julian Bashir & Jadzia Dax, Julian Bashir/Jadzia Dax
Kudos: 6





	cacophony

Hanahaki doesn't always present the same way across the galaxy. True, most humanoids typically have a floral species from their lover's home world present in their respiratory organs, the flowers then growing to the point of suffocation. For Trill, however, this is not always the case. Unjoined Trill suffer the disease in a manner almost identical to humans; joined Trill do not. The relationship between host and symbiont is a delicate one, and in this one regard, secretions from Dax have prevented catastrophe in Jadzia's lungs. While flowers might take sprout, they never grow to the point of posing serious harm.

Julian Bashir will admit that he doesn't quite know what to make of Trill-based Hanahaki. Before now, he had only seen cases within the view of a textbook, and anyone in the medical field, especially Julian, knows that clinical practice requires a more personal outlook.

Not that he doesn't know everything that a textbook in Federation Standard can offer and is therefore more prepared than the average physician.

So while the sight of Jadzia coughing up petals puts him on edge, Julian knows rationally that there is no harm of it. It might be annoying, and he will fix that for her, but there's no point freaking out.

But he is, in a way. There's probably no one permanently stationed on DS9 that doesn't know how Julian feels about her. She's gorgeous. Older, more mature, and yet fun in a way he hesitates to label exotic.

She stares off to the side, where the wormhole would be if one could see through walls. The juxtaposition of how she is now and the Jadzia Dax he holds dear in his mind, it makes his head hurt and his heartbeat quicken. Bashir clears his throat, taking note of the vibrant red in her fingers: the pool lily, a symbol of Trill itself. "Jadzia, I'm going to administer the hypospray now."

Meeting his gaze, she smiles. It doesn't reach her eyes, reminding Julian of a poorly made statue. Dissonance, the beauty of her face compared to the lifetime of sorrow in her eyes.

Julian grows even more uncomfortable when he considers if Curzon, or any other hosts, had suffered this affliction as well. He puts the tip to her neck, exhaling as the hypospray finishes. "You let me know if this gets worse."

"It won't." He can practically hear the _trust me, I know,_ because he's memorized the vocal quality of her voice. Or at least, he's memorized how it sounds through the UT rather than the guttural sounds that mark the Trill language. She knows Standard as an officer, of course, but she prefers to just use the UT. He asked Sisko about it once, who just laughed and told him about Curzon mistranslating an innuendo. The story raised more questions than it answered. "But, I will come back if it does. I promise."

He nods and watches her leave before sighing. If he's lucky, he won't be too late for lunch with Garak this week. Julian will have to ask him about the Cardassian variant of Hanahaki, just out of professional curiosity.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this with Lenara/Jadzia in mind. I also like Julian/Garak, so there's stuff about that too, if you look closely.
> 
> UT: Universal Translator. I know Jadzia probably just speaks Standard, but after seeing the UT in practice with Quark in "Little Green Men," I decided I don't care and wanted Trill-speaking Dax for symbolic reasons.


End file.
